biffafootie

PFA Exhibition

2008-10-06T20:36:00.002+01:00

Went to "The Beautiful Game: Highlights from the PFA's Art Collection" at Manchester City Gallery the other day. Looks like they've been investing heavily in art works over the years. Better than keeping the money in a bank. Don't know how much the subscription is to the Players Union but they are investing their members money is some superb pictures, prints and football related antiques.

The photo is of "Sayonara Japan 2002" by Tim Vyner, which is next to the very expensive Lowry "Going to the Match". The exhibition is on until 9th November, and it may even go on tour. Link.

10 on Tv for Armchair Army

2008-10-05T14:28:00.003+01:00

Just as winter approaches the Tv companies have re-arranged the schedule so that the last 10 games of United in 2008 are all broadcast live...I don't know what is the longest run of United matches shown on the telly but ten is pretty good for anyone in the armchair army. We all join the ranks of the armchair army from time to time.

Aston Villa (A) Sat 22nd Nov 1730h Setanta
Villarreal (A) Tues 25th Nov 1945h ITV
Manchester City (A) Sun 30th Nov 1330h Sky Sports
Sunderland (H) Sat 6th Dec 1730 Setanta
Aalborg (H) Wed 10th Dec 1945 Sky Sports
Spurs (A) Sat 13th Dec 1730h Setanta
World Club Championship in Japan Thur 18th Dec - tba
World Club Championship in Japan Sun 21st Dec - tba
Stoke City (A) Fri 26th Dec 1245h Sky Sports
Middlesboro (H) Mon 29th Dec 2000h Setanta

I've not seen any annoucements for the coverage of the World Club Championship but it's a safe bet that someone will pick up the UK rights when an English team is involved.

Easy at Ewood

2008-10-04T20:16:00.004+01:00

Blackburn Rovers 0-2 United Premiership 2008/09; attendance 27,321
A convincing show by United. The first goal looked a bit flooky with their keeper Jason Brown sandwiched between Vidic and Wes Brown. There should have been few more goals from United but the second goal by Rooney from an amazing run at speed by Ronaldo was class. At least Blackburn don't have Brad Friedland in nets these days, a goalie who always played superb against the reds.

Six goal thriller on my doorstep

2008-10-04T20:06:00.009+01:00

Maine Road 3-3 Runcorn Linnets
FA Vase 1st Round Proper; attendance 120

Linnets in FA Vase from biffadigital on Vimeo.
Before the Manchester United kick-off at 1730h I planned to get across Chorlton to see a visit by the fans owned club Runcorn Linnets to Brantingham Road. Plenty of those Runcorn fans turned up too. Maine Road chose to swop ends so as to take advantage of the southerly wind blowing across the open ground. It paid off. In spite of the early Runcorn pressure, Road went 2 up by half time.

During the break the feeble loudspeaker announced "the winning ticket is number 127 and you can collect a bottle of whiskey at the tea hut." Wow, that's me so I joined the queue for pies and hot drinks to collect my prize. The Linnets fans, a friendly bunch, despaired at their performance and wrote their side off. Anyway collected a bottle of 'The Famous Grouse' brand, which meant watching the second half with 70cl of Scotch precariously stuffed in my jacket pocket.

Second half with the wind in their favour and the ref getting a lot of stick from the Linnets fans for some questionable decisions they got back level after about ten minutes play. Stood next to a Linnets fan taking notes who compared his notes with a local reporter. The difficulty in covering football at this level is the absence of loudspeaker announcements and a big clock. Who scored, what minute, who came on as sub takes some working out.

A dodgy third goal from Maine Road, the lad appeared to knock the ball out of the keepers hand looked like the winner. But you never know how much injury time is being added on - no announcements. But a late equaliser from possibly a lad called Tom Baker of the Linnets saved the day. He gets his own song from the Linnets fans and is nicknamed Dr. Who. It's a reference to a 1970's Tv series as if you didn't know.

In the FA Vase extra time is played if the scores are level. Couldn't stay as I had an appointment with Blackburn v. United. But no more goals were scored.

Game 42; entrance £5, raffle ticket £1, cup of tea 50p, bus fare home £1.40. Took home a bottle of whisky so a good day out then.

Just A Vid: Going to 50 Games part 1

2008-10-02T18:54:00.005+01:00

Click To Play

This year I set myself a target of going to 50 live football matches. So far, since January I've been to 41....only 9 more...easy, easy, easy. Seen Manchester United 21 times, FC United 12 times and lots of other teams a few times. Juventus, Barcelona, Arsenal right down to Altrincham in the Conference, and Maine Road FC in the FA Cup....They all count though I do draw the line above watching say Wiggleswade Academy u-12's in the Bob Dobkins Newsagent Sunday Schools League. Those names are fiction, I hope.

Put together a short video of the story so far.....Biffafootie-50

Job Done in Denmark

2008-09-30T22:38:00.004+01:00

Aalborg 0-3 United
Champions League 2008/09; attendance 10,346
Reduced to being shown on ITV4 with Arsenal getting the prime ITV1 coverage.But at least it's in the proper aspect ratio this season, no more black borders around the action. Let's get to the football. Full strength attackers. Rafael DaSilva starts as full back - he's great, he can actually get out of trouble by dribbling past opponents. Alround it looked a comfortable performance. My man of the match was Rio Ferdinand for just being a great defender. The top story is that Berbatov scores two goals - in fact two good goals. I thought he'd disappeared for some of the match - can only describe it as a hanging back style. But right place, right time and cool finishing.

A home win against Celtic in two weeks and qualification to the knock-out stage is in view. What a difference a week makes.

Sunshine As Reds beat Whites

2008-09-27T20:40:00.009+01:00

United 2-0 Bolton Wanderers
Premiership 2008/09 : attendance 75,484

A game at a 3 O'clock game on a Saturday and it's brilliant sunshine - that's a rarity. Not a bad match either. United stroked the ball across the field, left side, right side, back again but nothing to show for it. Thought Fletcher and Anderson were excellent in midfield.

The talk will be about the penalty award. Ronaldo went down in the penalty area. It was at the far end so didn't have the best view, and I've seen so many penalties not given but the game stopped and the ref awarded a spot kick. Ronaldo scores.

This game opened up a bit after that. Scholes and Rooney came on and I witnessed some really excellent play. It could have been four nil but we settled for one goal from Rooney. Thought Berbatov is getting more into the United style, a few more games and a clear role. At least he has the ability to stay onside during play.

Took some bright blue sky video footage at the back of the Stretford End. Spotted the Da Silva boys going to the match, that's the opening shot. Game 41; admission £35 - took our own sandwich of ciabatta with spicy pinto bean dip and lettuce. Went to B&Q on the way home, the car park had been football fans cars and the store was empty.

Ease Past M'Boro in the Carling

2008-09-23T23:34:00.009+01:00

United 3-1 Middlesboro
Carling Cup 3rd Round; att: 53,729

Well clearly the Carling Cup is never a priority, with 23,000 empty seats you could still have got a ticket on the day. Charging full price instead of a few quid less like all the previous seasons is a bit cheeky. But on the plus side it gives supporters without a season ticket a chance to see Giggs, Ronaldo, Vidic, even Stuart Downing on the pitch. For me I wanted to see Possebon, Manucho and Rafael Da Silva - the lads coming through get a game with a big crowd.

The start was nearly all United possession in the first half though with not much to show. Up pops Ronaldo for a corner to make it 1-0 after about 25 minutes. Second half Middlesboro get one back with a powerful shot after a poor clearance.

There was the unfortunate ugly tackle on Rodrigo Possebon. Straight red without doubt, and you know it was serious with medics and stretchers on straight away. Up until then Possebon in my opionion was the best player on the field. The injury marred the evening. There was nine minutes extra time.

We got to see two goals at our end from Giggs and Nani. We'd have seen some more but their goalie Jones was playing well. Manucho came on, he's tall, is he the biggest player out there? Almost scored with his first touch. Can't judge on someone coming on as late sub.

Tried to make a little movie with my new mobile phone using the basic editing software supplied on the device. The idea was to upload it as a rough cut straight after the match. The result is above. Notice the empty seats, the injury bit and I missed the goals as too busy concentrating on the game.

Point at the Bridge

2008-09-21T18:34:00.004+01:00

Chelsea 1-1 United
Premiership 2008/09: attendance 41,760
Didn't think we'd win today, thought we'd get beaten about 2-0. So happy with the point. If we could score more than one goal a game we'd be up there at the top of the table instead of being 15th. Putting these games beyond reach with a second goal instead of putting the defence under pressure for most of the match.

Questions about the match:
Berbatov, what does he do? Limp passing playing a hovering about role.
Mike Riley the referee, what does he do? Hand out yellow cards and more yellow cards. You can get a yellow for just a hand gesture that somebody has just fouled you.
The substitutions, what were they about? Ronaldo, a match winner and needs another run out - fair enough but the game needing sorting out in mid-field. Bring on John O'Shea what sort of option is that.

We can all put this down to another slow faltering start to another season and the best is yet to come. Let's hope so. Maybe put four past Bolton next weekend.

FC Goalless with Worksop

2008-09-20T19:40:00.008+01:00

FC United 0-0 Worksop Town
Unibond Premier League: Attendance 2,033
Glorious sunny day in Bury, so bright that Worksop won the toss of the coin and changed ends so as not to play into the brightness. Should have brought my sunglasses as I was soon squinting at the game. Worksop are in green and white strip and go for a defensive game, one up front and everyone else behind the ball. Most of the game was in their half as FC put in cross after cross into the box. Second half was a bit more open play. FC hit the bar with a long range effort, and had a few headers on goal but nothing happened.

This is the third game on the run, except for the amateur game last week, that's ended with no goals. It gets a bit disheartening. Not the most exciting game I've seen, not dull, just no goals and no win to go home with....
Game 39: Admission £7.50 - no travel expenses, large Snicker bar at half time. Didn't bother with a cup of tea I'm fed up with the poor catering facilities at Bury FC. Bought a fanzine "Under the Boardwalk" - a very good read for just £2.

Reserves

2008-09-19T15:44:00.002+01:00

"Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists his Reserves play the kind of football that deserves to be seen by a wider audience."

Having watched the Reserves play at Bury the other week, I can only agree. The quality of football is excellent - a fast passing game. However they play in Northwich, about 26 miles from Old Trafford. The stadium looks good in the photos and Northwich Victoria need the revenue. But it must be half an hour by car, or the train journey to Lostock Grahlam is 50 minutes from Manchester, plus a walk. All for a weekday night with a 1900h kick-off. Previously they used to play at Bury, then Altrincham and then Hyde. They used to get crowds of a few thousand now it's apparently 200-300.

I'm going to try and get to see another Reserves game this year but it'll be an away tie. Possibly the match against Manchester City in October. At least it will actually be in Manchester at the athletic stadium next to City's ground.
OGS Rallies Fans for the Reserves at ManUnitedYouth.Com

Selling Shirts not Games

2008-09-18T20:08:00.002+01:00

A catalogue of MUFC merchandise came through the letterbox. Buy online or by phone lots of stuff you never needed. Not just shirts and hats but a lovely coat for your dog. I did like the "Grow Your Own Old Trafford". Grass seed, some goalposts and white plastic for the pitch markings. The price of £24.99 put me off. Maybe I could make my own for a fiver. Even better I could make a bigger pitch and get some subbuteo players for some goalmouth scrambles, re-enact the goals which must come soon. But that would push the price up. But then you get bored, buyers remorse sets in and it collects dust in your junk room.

Few Sparks No Goals All Square

2008-09-17T23:03:00.005+01:00

United 0-0 Villarreal
Champions League 2008/09 Game 1/6 att: 74,499

It seemed like an age since I last went to Old Trafford and so was looking forward to that familiar trek to that familiar seat 274 in Row 8. First half had the usual bright start but it would take a bit of luck or a substitution to get past Villarreal. They're a good side, nothing fancy but work well. At last half time came and for twenty minutes we watched the big pink moon climb in the sky above east stand. Usually a good omen. The highlight of the second half was Ronaldo coming on. Great reception from the crowd - singing the songs as he put on the red shirt. Anderson came on as well, another crowd favourite. Really thought we'd get that one goal to win it. But no, and when Tevez went off and Giggs came on the attacking play petered out.

But 0-0 in the Celtic v. Aarlborg game so everyone has a point apiece. Need an away win somewhere to ensure getting through.
Game 38: Cost £35, half time snack a large Twix bar.

On the way home we saw our old mate Les just back from the FC United FA Cup replay. Lost in a seven goal thriller against Nantwich Town. Oh well sometimes you don't have it all your way.

United's Sponsors in Trouble

2008-09-15T09:33:00.003+01:00

As a football fan you don't always turn to the financial pages. But after Northern Rock (sponsors of Newcastle United), Lehman Brothers, Bears Stern, and Merril Lynch couldn't help but notice that AIG who have three big letters on the Manchester United shirt have a bit of difficulty. Losses of a mere 18 billion USD in 9 months, and looking for a trifling 40 billion USD bridge loan from the US Federal Reserve.

UPDATE: "The U.S. negotiators drove a hard bargain. Under terms hammered out Tuesday night, the Fed will lend up to $85 billion to AIG, and the U.S. government will effectively get a 79.9% equity stake in the insurer".
Close, virtually nationalised in all but name, but not bankrupt.

Meanwhile West Ham United have lots of shirts with their bankrupt sponsor XL airlines to dispose of.

Not So Good Elsewhere

2008-09-13T19:43:00.008+01:00

West Didsbury & Chorlton 1-2 Stand Athletic
Manchester League Division 1: Att: 12
By the time I got here Wests where a goal down. Get your priorities right I had to finish the Liverpool v. United match. Wrong result at Anfield - impose a news blackout, blank it from your mind and get on with something else. Pleasant day in the sunshine watching the very local team going it's 6th successive league win. It's so local I nip through a neighbours garden to get to pitch side. So local that I know the parents of half the Wests team and the manager and the lady behind the bar. But I'm a hoodoo and after Wests equalised, and someone in the crowd got a lecture from the referee for use of language their No.7 banged a cracking shot to win the match.

Normally I go back in the club house for a bevvy, the players get changed and everyone watches the scores come in on the Tv. I remembered my news black out, and as nearly everyone here are City supporters I went home. Not before being a witness to West Didsbury doing some warm down exercise with a few laps of half the pitch. What was that about? But this club is serious about getting up to the next level.

Game 37: Free entry, no programme, no expenses.

Bad Day At The Office

2008-09-13T19:41:00.002+01:00

Liverpool 2-1 United
Premiership 2008/09 Att: 44,192
A dream start to the match, one nil up within 3 minutes. But after that it went downhill. A fumbled mix-up between Van de Saar and Brown makes it 1-1. Just get to half time with this score and sort it out for next 45 minutes. It was Liverpool who sorted it out - most of the ball, most of the play, mostly in the United half of the pitch. Not a good day. Are we waiting until the return of Ronaldo before the goals start coming?

Just A Pic: Sad Sight

2008-09-11T14:40:00.001+01:00

One of the most depressing sights is to see a derelict football stadium. What once was, is nowt but memories. Saw this on an internet forum called UK Urban Exploration. Yes sometimes there is intelligent life in forums though very little amongst the amoeba who fire off into football matters. Basically you somehow get into derelict properties, take a shufti and snap some pics.
Links : Thread with photos

This is the old Haslingdon FC ground that was last occupied by Stand Athletic in the Manchester League. By coincidence they are playing away across the road my house on Saturday. Might pop along after the early kick off Liverpool v. United game - free entry and a clubhouse for beers and snacks.

FC beaten at Prescot

2008-09-09T21:48:00.005+01:00

Prescot Cables 4-3 FC United
listening live to FCUM-TV Radio
It had been a dull day with more rain so decided to have an evening indoors. Turned off the Tv and tuned the laptop to FCUM-TV Radio. At 3-1 down it looked all over. But three attacking substitutions changed the score to 3-3. A penalty was the equaliser. First time I've seen a penalty on the radio. You get a blurry picture of one half of the pitch. What you can't see clearly you make up with imagination. Scored by Kyle Wilson at the Safari Park End. Apparently Knowsley Safari Park is behind those goals. But the defence was caught napping again and Prescot got a 4th goal.

This is going to be tough, tough season for FC United. P7 W2 D1 L4 Points 7 position 15/22. Just as long as we don't leave this division from the bottom end. Prescot hadn't won a game until tonight so they'll be well pleased. Attendance 704.

You've scored no goals and no passes

2008-09-06T17:09:00.005+01:00

Altrincham 0-0 Salisbury City
Blue Square Conference National: attendance 1002

The FC United v. Eastwood Town match was called off after an early morning pitch inspection. I thought it would be after yesterday's rain, so I plumped for this match. A quick check on the Altrincham website "despite the week's downpours, today's match at Moss Lane is definitely on; it has been a dry morning in Altrincham so far". It turned out to be a bright sunny day. Pity about the football.

It was a tiresome long ball game, big kicks up field, long throw ins, bouts of head tennis. I thought whoever can string 5 passes together is going to win it. Alty came close in the first half with three good attempts on goal - a wide, a save, over the bar. Second half Salisbury got within striking range.

Sat in the main stand for the first half. Less leg room than at Old Trafford, which is a bit silly considering how big and empty the ground is. Stretched my legs at half time and had a look inside the Robins Shop which is inside the ground. Besides the usual shirts and photos on offer there was an old programme stall. Plenty of old Manchester United programmes, and lots & lots of other clubs too. Didn't have any cash so didn't ask the prices.

Stood up in the second half in the sunshine. Prior to the game I thought top of the table Salisbury would win with 4 goals. Yet neither side looked like getting a winner unless it would be by luck.

Game 36; admission £12, tram fare £3, bus fare £1.40. Cheese and onion pie £1.40 from the fantastic Fish & Chip opposite the ground. Brought my own half time snacks - Twix bar, organic banana, organic hot chocolate in a small flask.

Related links: Altrincham v. FC United (August Friendly)

Reserves overcome Bury

2008-09-03T18:00:00.008+01:00

Bury Reserves 0-2 United Reserves
Manchester Senior Cup 2008/9: attendance est.150

It turned out to be a very wet trip to Gigg Lane to watch the reserves in action. By the time I got there I was soaked. Got another soaking on the way home. The players got wet too, and Ole Solskjaer the manager was in a good waterproof outfit. I was sat a few rows behind him during the second half, listening to the encouragement he was shouting across to the players. A bit different from the usual get in position rants from many coaches. The team played well in the United style. Keep the ball, pass even if you have to pass backwards, work the play across the pitch. The first goal came after about 15 minutes from a direct free kick by Magnus Eikrem. The other one was in the second half with Tom Cleverley smacking it into the net with the Bury defence caught out of position. There are no annoucements at these games, so your not always sure who's scored or how long injury time will be.

Other interesting note - Fabio DaSilva, well it looked like him, came and stood behind me near the end of the game, chatting away in very fast Brazilian dialect.

Game 35: Admission £3, tram fare £2.70, bus fares £2.80, cup of tea 1.60, confectionary £1.09, no programme available but a free teamsheet.

Manchester United: Ben Foster, Rafael Da Silva, Richard Eckersley, David Gray, James Chester, Cameron Stewart, Magnus Eikrem, Sam Hewson, Danny Welbeck, James Derbyshire, Tom Cleverley.
Subs: Reece Brown, Ben Amos, Christpher Curran, Evandro Brandao, Antonio Bryan

Maine Rd v. Brigg Town cup replay

2008-09-02T22:27:00.004+01:00

Maine Road 1-2 Brigg Town
FA Cup Preliminary Round (replay) attendance 90

Maine Road play at a very small ground near here, ten minutes door to door in the car. Might as well make use of a warmish, damp Tuesday night to clock up another game and get to my target of 50 this year. A last minute goal by Brigg Town on Saturday had forced a replay so they had to travel up from Lincolnshire to the suburbs of South Manchester.

The game was played at break neck speed. Basically you get the ball, run for goal and look for the killer pass that would put someone through. The teams look very young so maybe they have a lot of energy to burn. Maine Road scored first after about 15 minutes and it looked promising . Brigg however got stuck in, and got the equaliser in a goal mouth mess of bodies. If you don't clear your lines you get punished especially at this level.

Second half was mostly a conversation with three football travellers. We started talking about the forthcoming England games, and got into the finances of football and the quality of grounds. I didn't know about 3 sided and 5 sided football grounds until tonight. One supported Worksop Town who have lost their ground thanks to a supposed financial saviour, another was a Bradford Park Avenue fan who lived in Sale, and a student lad who follows FC United. You wonder why we're here watching a team associated with the blue half of Manchester.

Meanwhile Brigg scored again with a good strike on goal, and whilst Maine Road battled on, the game slowly slipped away. We all slipped away to our homes.

Game 34; Admission £6, programme £1 (normally a lot of adverts but this time a good history section with every season's stats covered).

FA Cup Prelim Round at Trafford

2008-08-30T19:35:00.007+01:00

Trafford 2-4 Stocksbridge Park Steels
FA Cup Preliminary Round, attendance 147

FA Cup Prelim Round Action from biffadigital on Vimeo.
So it was off to Shawe View in Flixton to see if Trafford FC can progress in the FA Cup. A goal up after 18 minutes and it looked promising. This meant I didn't win "the time of the first goal competition" as I had 37 minutes. For those who have never done grassroots football - you pay a quid and get a piece of paper with a number from 1 thru 90 and either an A (away team) or H (home team) printed on it. That's 179-1 odds no wonder I've never won.

Stocksbridge had brought along about 20 supporters and they soon had something to cheer about. When 3-1 up the looked like having a comfortable win. But a Trafford come back got it back to 3-2. But a breakway goal from Stocksbridge put an end to it. Even managed to get two goals on video.

Game 39: Admission £6, first goal ticket £1, tea 50p. No transport costs as got a lift from the man next door. No programme bought.

Slumped in Monaco

2008-08-29T22:44:00.004+01:00

Zenit St.Petersburg 2-1 United
UEFA Super Cup in Monaco
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is quoted below, and it sums up my view of the match. This was not exhibition football but played as a tough European knock-out tie the sort of matches I relish. Pity Scholes got himself sent off for a silly handball in front of the ref.

"I think we played our best football at 2-0, unfortunately. It was a warm night and so I think my players did OK under the circumstances.

"I thought Tevez was outstanding - probably the best player on the park - and I thought we had the chances to do something in the game.

"But Zenit are a very good team and they have exceptional movement. They'll be a force in the Champions League playing like that."

Monaco oh Super

2008-08-28T18:07:00.003+01:00

The UEFA Super Cup is not the biggest fixture in the year. I'm sure it was originally called something without 'super' in the title, but come Friday night it'll be feet up watching ITV1 (1945h BST) for the United v. Zenit St.Petersburg game.

So get your story ready...
a) don't win - never mind it's meaningless
b) win - quietly smug, always good to get another trophy
c) draw - is it another penalty shoot-out ?

Whilst it's grey, overcast and threatening rain here in Manchester it's still a bright 30 degrees in Monaco. Fortunately it's an evening match. Went to Monaco a few years ago and went to the stadium which is an interesting building. The pitch is on the 5th floor roof and underneath there was university offices and some shops selling pizza and haircuts. It was so long ago that Fabian Barthez played for them before he came to United.

Prediction : 1-0 to United. Previous history lost to Lazio 0-1 in 1999, beat Red Star Belgrade 1-0 in 1991. Photo are some postage stamps from Djibouti (population 496,374) and I think they are pretty spiffy.

Good 3 pointer at Pompey

2008-08-25T22:46:00.004+01:00

Portsmouth 0-1 United
FA Premiership 2008/09; att: 20,540

These are the results that count, going to Fratton Park on a Monday night, after every other team has played and coming back with 3 points. Watched this one on dodgy internet Tv, supplemented by Radio 5Live. Could have gone to the pub, but just wanted a quiet night. Good to see Anderson return to the team, and Evra is just superb at the moment. Good job there is a solid defence 'cos United arn't firing them in at the moment. But one is enough, which makes Darren Fletcher played 2, scored 2....which says something.